Former Burnley midfielder Joey Barton has heavily criticised Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool team, describing them as the 'worst side' that he has played against at Anfield.

Overall, the Reds had a positive season culminating in a top four place with a final-day 3-0 win over Middlesbrough.

However, some of their performances came under criticism, and Barton believes that Klopp practically needs a entirely new defence if they want to succeed in the 2017-18 campaign.

Barton, who is currently serving a football ban for breaching betting rules, played against the Merseyside outfit in a 2-1 defeat for Burnley at Anfield in March.

"I played against them a couple of weeks ago and it is arguably the worst Liverpool side I have played against at Anfield," Barton told BT Sport. "You have always gone there and it is difficult to play, but they didn't have the same level of conviction that they seem to have over the course of my career.

"There were certain things about the team in the key components of the team which you would expect them to have like the defensive structure and solidity through the middle of the park.

"You can dress that up however you like, they have been very good going forward with the acquisition of Mane, but defensively the keeper is still an issue and they are playing [James] Milner at left-back.

"They need to near enough go back out there and recruit a new back four with only [Nathaniel] Clyne that is solid in that position."

The majority of Liverpool's first-team stars, as well as ex-players Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Daniel Agger and Steve McManaman, will feature in a post-season friendly in Sydney, Australia on Wednesday.